Imagine holding your breath longer than a minute, diving down into the blue depths of the ocean, and coming face to face with a shark. Imagine doing all of this with a feeling of absolute peace. That's the way photographer Jorge Cervera Hauser described his experiences in the open ocean. His passion for the vast depths drove him and his friends to explore the sea way beyond their comfort zone.

Here is a collection of photographs Hauser took during a 4 year period of expeditions with Pelagic Life, an NGO whose purpose is the protection of the Mexican open ocean through eco-tourism and the use of high quality images. Hauser took these photos while freediving in the open ocean, mostly in Mexico.

Hauser reports that he came up empty many times, spending hours in rustic fishing boats in an effort to catch pictures of the elusive open ocean sea life. It is all worth it, he says, when something rare like a smooth hammerhead comes along and poses just perfectly for you. According to Hauser, that makes it all worthwhile.